I just don't understand the burn meter

Hi All,

Not sure if it's me but I just can't understand the burn meter. Can somebody please explain it a little more I'm getting a little discouraged because I feel like I'm doing something wrong.

I have already lost about 30 lbs by doing nothing, Last April I was diagnosed with diabetes, I basically Stop drinking soda! cut down on my portions. I believe with the medication alone helped me. I went down to 196. And my diabetes is under control  but I have noticed I have been slipping I gained 5lbs........

Okay here we going : I'm 30 (will be 31 in 8/14) 5'8 and 201lbs. Right now my goal is to weight 190. (Then hopefully 180).

When I woke up this morning it was  1500/0 -- 2020/942 (where did the 942 come from?

Had breakfast it was  1500/130-- 2020/945 (why did that number increase by 3?)

Had a little snack it was  1500/230-- 2020/948 (increased again by 3?)

I just when in to check did nothing it was  1500/230--2020/960 (wow increased again....by 12??? why)

Came back in to add my work out activities (Wii active) is was 1500/230---2190/1149 (now I'm lost. Where did my 2020 est number go? and the second number increased drastically???)

Please help!!! urgh

Thanks!! good luck to everyone with their wgt lost.

wish I could help you cause I am confused as well. I just log all of my activities and use that to determine how much exercise I am getting. So far I have lost 18 lbs by doing that. I have heard that as long as you are burning more that you are eating then you are fine. Sorry that is all the help I can give you.

The burn meter goes up as your day progresses. It simply keeps track of the calories you have burned by the current time of day. When you add an activity the meter goes up by the number of calories burned by the activity minus the number of calories you burn just metablolizing.

That's why it's lower in the AM than it is in the PM....it goes up as the day goes on...

Does that help?

Hi, I was confused about this as well. I understand that the burn meter is just an estimate of how much you burn throughout the day but why is the burn meter number different than the "Number of calories burned in a typical day"  or whatever it is when I use the tools?

Freakybunny

Thanks, I kinda got it but its so weird.

Okay the black number (2020) was the same until I added an activities and it jump up to 2190.  2020-2190= 170 . But I worked for 25 mins and burn 201 cal.  Why did my est 2020 go up by 170?

I understand the Burn Meter which my black number is 2020. and the white number I get too. But why does the  black number increase when I add a activity.

How far apart should the white and black numbers on the burn meter be?

How far apart should my cal and the black numbers on the burn meter be?

or How far apart should my cal be from the white numbers on the burn meter?

THANK YOU! All who has replied

Hello

I think the black number is the estimated total that you will burn by the end of the day. If you do no exercise it remains constant, if you log exercise it should increase approximately by the amount burned by exercising (possibly slightly less if it deducts the calories you would burn normally had you done no exercise for that duration of time)

the white number should be the exact same as the black number at midnight just before it resets to 0.

Depending how much weight you want to loose or if you want to maintain then you decide how far appart you want your calories and black number to be, I think (I remember reading that it shouldn't be greater than 1000 calories to remain healthy, though careful that it doesn't take you too much below 1200 a day). oh wait, you said white number... I don't think that makes too much of a difference but I might be wrong, I only ever thought of the end result.

Did that make any sense?

Original Post by jescika69:

Freakybunny

Thanks, I kinda got it but its so weird.

Okay the black number (2020) was the same until I added an activities and it jump up to 2190.  2020-2190= 170 . But I worked for 25 mins and burn 201 cal.  Why did my est 2020 go up by 170?

You burned 201 calories, but during that 25 minutes your body would have burned a certain number of calories even if you had been sleeping. 

The burn meter know that and only adds the "extra" calories you burned by exercising. 

It's almost important to note that the Burn Meter is really just a visual estimation to show how much you are burning throughout the day.  So the change in numbers (only going up by 3 every time you check) isn't really indicative of anything, its just a rough estimation of where you are at at that point in the day.

it takes calories to think, breath, sleep etc.

every body has a Basic Metabolism Rate (BMR)

this number is the amount you burn without doing anything.

that is why we eat in the first place, to make sure we can survive.

so, when you were a sleep you had already used 900 of them.

hope that helped.

THANK YOU ALL FOR TAKING TIME TO REPLY TO ME.....

I'm still a little confused, but its OK.....as long as I don't go over my cal intake I'm OK.........and excersise everyday

Here's a question - do you guys put in your sleep hour?

I put in that I'm moderately active, but I always then go back and put in my sleep. That takes like 280 cals off! I put my exercise on, but don't log EVERYTHING that I do after that. Is that ok? Does everyone else log sleep?

To-bsh0611

No I am sorry I don't log my sleep,  I wouldnt even know how :(

Hey what ever works for you! good luck!

So the black number is the estimated number of calories you would burn based on doing nothing all day. So if yours reads 2020 that is the number of calories you are burning from midnight to 1159 pm in one day. The white number is the estimated actual thoughout the day. So when you got up this monring it had 900. That is how many estimated calories you burned from midnight until you logged on this morning. So if you wait a few minutes and go back to that page you will see the white numebr has changed because you are still burning calories doing nothing. Then if you do additional activities that you logged in to your activity log that will add to the white number. The black number is going to up as well because now it is going to say "based on the additional activity, you will burn 2500 calories in the whole day now instead of just 2020."

The difference between the black and the white number doens't matter. Because if you log in at 1159 pm the number should be around the same. Then at midnight you black number goes back to 2020 and your white number goes to 0.

The number you should be concerned with the is the difference between your calorie intake and your burn meter. If the black number says you are going to burn 2500 calories then you don't want to eat anymore than 2500 calories. The difference between the two is up to you. If you eat 2500 calories and burn 2500 calories then you are going to maintain. If you need to lose you need to eat less than the black number, if oyu need to gain then you need to wat more than the balck number on the burn meter.

Hope this helps!

Original Post by bsh0611:

Here's a question - do you guys put in your sleep hour?

 

I put in that I'm moderately active, but I always then go back and put in my sleep. That takes like 280 cals off! I put my exercise on, but don't log EVERYTHING that I do after that. Is that ok? Does everyone else log sleep?

... I think sleep is already taken into account in the daily calories burned, what you should log is any extra activity you do on top of sleeping and normal daily activity. sorry. :(